BRANDON – Leo Kosokowsky’s business is based on a simple principle: you don’t know what you don’t know.
The founder of AgMpower, an information management system for farmers, said producers often don’t deal with an issue because they don’t know they have a problem.
“At the same time, they may concentrate their efforts on areas where they are already doing very well, but don’t realize it,” said Kosokowsky.
The AgMpower website is a cost-of-production calculator for grain farmers on the Canadian Prairies.
Not only does it show a farmer his own cost of production in specific categories, but it also shows the average of the top 25 percentile for the farm size, soil zone and crop risk area, according to crop insurance data.
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“It lets you compare your farm directly to similar farms,” Kosokowsky said.
All the information on the site is anonymous. Each subscriber to the service only sees averages of the numbers from other farms. Nobody else can access your data.
“It lets you see where you’re weak and where you’re strong in relation to your neighbours. You might have an area where you think your costs are too high, weed control in cereals, for example,” he said.
“But if the website says your costs are in line with other similar farms in your area, then you can move this concern downward on your list of priorities.
“On the other hand, the site might say your costs for weed control in canola are higher than those around you. That lets you know that here’s an area where you should take action.”
With tight margins, this fine-tuning can make the difference between profit and loss.
Kosokowsky said that once a producer has entered his data, he can share it with his agronomist, accountant, marketing consultant or banker. The information can be used for crop budgeting, land or machinery purchase decisions or any related management area.
How does Kosokowsky know he has enough data from each geographic area of the Prairies to give his subscribers valid comparisons?
The answer is that, so far, he doesn’t.
“For a good benchmark, I need a minimum of 10 farmers in each crop risk zone to start generating good numbers. Once we get to 100 farmers in each zone, then we’ll be able to give clients a really finely tuned service.”
AgMpower is based in Saskatoon and started gathering data in March 2006. Kosokowsky has enough farmers signed up in the crop risk zones around Melfort, Humboldt and Saskatoon that he can give them solid management data.
“When we don’t have enough farmers in a crop risk zone, then we expand the area out temporarily into the soil zone until more producers sign up in that specific risk zone.
“For this thing to really work and really provide a top level service, I need a lot of farmers to participate right across the Prairies. That’s why I’m working with a lot of agronomists and accountants. They see the value of this system and they’re selling it to their farmer clients.”
The annual fee for AgMpower is $500.
Kosokowsky said it’s an easy system to enter and access information.
He said this turns it into a tool that allows farmers to play with cropping options right up to seeding time.
“If a farmer signs up and we can’t give him a good data base in that year, then we keep him on the system and roll his fee forward to a future year when we have the necessary benchmark data for him.”
A lot of farmers have had bad experiences with management systems that were difficult to use.
To demonstrate that AgMpower is user-friendly, the company offers a free seven day trial.
For more information, contact Kosokowsky at 888-291-3276 or visit www.agmpower.ca.
